{"id":14698,"date":"2019-03-11T03:43:40","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T10:43:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeandhealth.wordifysites.com\/?p=14698"},"modified":"2019-03-06T10:35:23","modified_gmt":"2019-03-06T18:35:23","slug":"has-your-smartphone-replaced-your-brain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/lifestyle\/has-your-smartphone-replaced-your-brain\/0314698.html","title":{"rendered":"Has Your Smartphone Replaced Your Brain?"},"content":{"rendered":"

America\nis experiencing information overload more than ever before and it looks like\nit\u2019ll only increase. With increased knowledge comes increased responsibility. Technology\nhas boomed over the centuries but we\u2019re not here to say that technology itself is\na bad thing. You may have even been able to access this article through your\nphone, or through a shared link. Technology is very helpful and benefits our\nlives. It is a part of our jobs, social network, emergencies, finding useful\ninformation. <\/p>

But, and this is a big but \u2013 Just as we can become addicted to alcohol, drugs, and other things, we can become addicted to our screens. Has your phone replaced your brain?  <\/p>

\"\"<\/figure>

The\nconcern now lies in how integrated our smartphones have become in our lives. We\nnow rely on our phones for basic human functions. Do you find yourself not able\nto recall how to navigate to destinations without using a GPS system in your\nphone? I\u2019m reminded me of the times when I\u2019d have to pull out my folding map,\nsquint, and call out directions using the map. Relying on landmarks was necessary,\nand \u201cpaved\u201d the way for us to remember how to get around. Now, our reliance on\nsmartphones have discouraged our ability to reason and analyze and have instead\nincreased our desire for instant gratification. Now, we\u2019re hardly able to cope\nwithout our phones in our hands.<\/p>

Are you addicted?<\/h3>

Addiction\nworks on dopamine levels. It\u2019s what causes us to seek out pleasurable\nexperiences, and it encourages us to keep seeking pleasure once we receive the\n\u201creward\u201d. And so we find ourselves in a cycle of seek-and-reward. This cycle is\ncommon in our daily lives and is an important function of nature, such as the\nbasic necessities of life and companionship. But what about in the case of\nsmartphones? <\/p>

The reason why it\u2019s easier to become addicted to technology than it is to other things is because we<\/g> never truly become \u201cfull\u201d as we do when we eat a meal. This causes less satisfaction, and our desire to seek out more becomes stronger. <\/p>

\"\"<\/figure>

Of\ncourse, none of us like to think we\u2019re addicted to our phones. We reason that we\nneed our smartphone because we this e-mail, that text, or that viral video is\nimportant. That is true some of the time, but there are a few tell-tale signs\nof when we are in control of our phone use, and when it is in control of us.<\/p>

Cell phone addictions involve: <\/strong><\/p>

  • Sleep disturbances and insomnia caused by\nheavy phone usage<\/li>
  • Reliance on the phone to experience satisfaction\nand relaxation<\/li>
  • Feelings\nof anxiety or irritability when separated from the phone or when faced by the inability\nto use it (for example, when you realize your phone is low on battery)<\/li>
  • Feelings\nof loneliness or swift mood changes when you\u2019re unable to send messages or\nreceive immediate responses<\/li>
  • Continued\nand conscious phone use in dangerous situations, such as while driving, and\nloss of interest in other activities<\/li>
  • Preference\nof using the phone instead of personal interaction<\/li><\/ul>

    Do You Remember the Phone Number? <\/strong><\/h3>

    Do you remember the times when it was necessary to dial phone\nnumbers on a landline? The actual phone number had to be memorized, versus\nfinding the number in our contact list as we do now.<\/p>

    This information overload that plagues us makes it difficult for\nus to form long-term memories. The reason for this is because information enters\nour brain so rapidly that we are unable to filter out what\u2019s important and what\nisn\u2019t. As a result, it doesn\u2019t get stored into long-term memory. Long-term\nmemories are what shape our thoughts and experiences. <\/p>

    The bottom line is this: The\nmore we rely heavily on smartphones and technology, the less information we\u2019ll\nbe able to store in our long-term memory, making us less capable of shaping our\nthoughts and experiences. Memory externalization isn\u2019t necessarily a negative\nthing, but it shouldn\u2019t replace our ability to learn and remember from external\nexperiences and our surroundings. <\/p>

    Attention Span as Short as Your Goldfish <\/h3>

    Have you ever had pet goldfish? I did and no matter what I tried,\nI couldn\u2019t keep my goldfish\u2019s attention. Now I wonder if my attention span is\ndwindling to that of a goldfish. <\/p>

    Did you know that even the mere presence<\/em> of a smartphone\u2014regardless of whether it\u2019s on silent or turned\noff\u2014impairs cognitive function? This is because the brain was actively working\nto not pick up the smartphone and start using it. When we\u2019re not using our\nphones, we feel as though we are missing out on something that\u2019s just been\nposted to social media or a news article that everyone is talking about. <\/p>

    More Connected, But More Alone<\/h3>
    \"\"<\/figure>

    Socializing in-person and online is different. With our online presence, we choose the best versions of ourselves along with the best online qualities\u2014hashtags, statuses, stories, filters\u2014you name it. We\u2019re unable to see the quirks, imperfections, and vulnerabilities that truly connect us to one another. We often idolize those who seem to have \u201cperfect\u201d lives and it causes us to feelings of inadequacy, low-self esteem, and feelings of loneliness. A study found that 48% of young people under the age of thirty-five felt like they could only confide in one person, versus three confidants, based on a study conducted twenty-five years ago. It\u2019s rather ironic, as we have more \u201cfriends\u201d than we can count on our online accounts \u2013 hundreds, if not thousands \u2013 and yet we\u2019re lonelier than ever.<\/p>

    How Do We Unplug?<\/h3>
    • Here are some ways that have worked for me personally, when managing phone and technology usage:<\/li>
    • Go on a digital fast for a day to remind yourself of life beyond your phone<\/li>
    • Turn off notifications during family events or other outings, work, classes, etc. I also like to turn off app notifications on the weekends, except for calls and text messages.<\/li>
    • Schedule consistent \u201cdates\u201d with your loved ones<\/li>
    • Form social networks that you can interact with in real life, like a church group or hiking club<\/li>
    • Go on an outdoor adventure: camping, road trips, hiking in nature<\/li>
    • If you use technology for work, make an effort to schedule the times you use it. For example, set aside some time to check your e-mail instead of compulsively checking it throughout the day<\/li>
    • Use an alarm app that requires you to get up in order to turn it off. For example, leaving the phone downstairs or in another room. This will discourage using the phone before bedtime.<\/li><\/ul>
      \nhttps:\/\/journals.plos.org\/plosone\/article?id=10.1371\/journal.pone.0202188\u2019\n<\/div><\/figure>
      \nhttps:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC5076301\/\n<\/div><\/figure>
      \nhttps:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/womensmedia\/2012\/05\/24\/text-or-talk-is-technology-making-you-lonely\/\n<\/div><\/figure>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      America is experiencing information overload more than ever before and it looks like it\u2019ll only increase. With increased knowledge comes increased responsibility. Technology has boomed over the centuries but we\u2019re not here to say that technology itself is a bad thing. You may have even been able to access this article through your phone, or…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2237,"featured_media":14699,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"image","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,2,561,5],"tags":[200,435,175],"thb-sponsors":[],"yst_prominent_words":[2301,2628,2511,784],"class_list":["post-14698","post","type-post","status-publish","format-image","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-emotional-health","category-lifestyle","category-mindfulness","category-relationships-community","tag-emotional-health-2","tag-social-media","tag-technology","post_format-post-format-image"],"acf":[],"views":19392,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14698","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2237"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14698"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14698\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14736,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14698\/revisions\/14736"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14699"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14698"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14698"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14698"},{"taxonomy":"thb-sponsors","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/thb-sponsors?post=14698"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lifeandhealth.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=14698"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}